The River's End
by Harmonic Sound of Rain
Summary: Featherkit lives in a twisted world, a world where kits are sacrificed on the first full moon of leaf-fall. The kits must travel through a cave and on a river, just to get to the end, where something is waiting. Is it a new life, or is it something else, lying there at the river's end?
1. Silver

**Warning: This story may not be updated regularly because of my other two stories. The chapters may be extremely short.**

**I based this off of a really good FanFic I read a while ago.**

**I really don't own Warriors! RAWR**

* * *

I woke up to my mother, Redcloud, standing over me.

"Featherkit, it's almost full moon," she whispered.

Rainstar, the leader, was standing in the entrance to the nursery. "You'll frighten her," he muttered.

"But how can you do this to your own daughter?!" Redcloud wailed.

I pretended I had gone back to sleep, but really, I just wanted to listen to the conversation.

"You know that StarClan will get angry if we don't sacrifice a kit," Rainstar muttered. "The Clans have been sacrificing kits since the ancient Clans."

"Sacrifice an apprentice," Redcloud meowed.

"The apprentices have friends they will be torn to leave behind. And besides, the sacrificed cat must have little experience, so that they will not miss that many things back in camp," Rainstar explained.

"YOU'RE SACRIFICING YOUR OWN DAUGHTER!" Redcloud screeched.

I opened my eyes so they would stop arguing.

"She's awake," Rainstar meowed. "I'm sorry, Redcloud."

"I'd rather die alongside my daughter than let her die in a cave!" Redcloud hissed at Rainstar.

"The full moon is tomorrow. If you're not taking her to the river, I will," Rainstar said and walked out of the den.

* * *

The moon was a fat silver circle sitting in the middle of a navy blue sky. Four leaders were sitting in a tall birch tree, the leaders of the Clans.

Three other kits were sitting at the base of the tree, trembling in fear, with their mothers licking them clean.

One kit was arguing with his mother.

"Featherkit, when you go, please ask them if you can walk in my dreams," Redcloud whispered in my ear.

I nodded, not knowing what she meant.

"Let the sacrifice begin," a small white cat said.

"My kit is being sacrificed," Rainstar said to the group of cats. "May she walk in my dreams." He then touched his muzzle to my head.

Redcloud and the other mothers walked towards the mouth of a river, with the kits hanging in their jaws.

"I won't miss you," the brown tabby kit who had argued with his mother said.

His mother scowled and cuffed him over the ear with a paw, claws unsheathed.

"Owlflight, don't do that to your son!" a white cat said.

"Brackenkit deserves it, Icepelt," Owlflight hissed.

"Just start the sacrifice so I can get it over with," a black cat said.

"Yes, please, do what Ravenwing says," Redcloud pleaded.

"Goodbye, Shadekit," Ravenwing said, lowering her kit down on a platform made of sticks.

"Goodbye, Sunkit," Icepelt said, doing the same.

"Goodbye, Featherkit," my own mother said, lowering me onto the platform. I held onto her pelt, but she shook me off.

Owlpelt did not say goodbye. She just put Brackenkit onto the platform.

Then Owlpelt pushed the platform into the mouth of the cave…

The darkness swallowed me, and I heard a kit scream.

* * *

**I just really needed to do this story .3. Hope you liked it.**

**~Harmonic**


	2. Stars

**Heeeeeyyyy, I'm back! I need ideas for my other two stories *_* If you have any, please tell me! I don't own Warriors. If I did, there would be a lot of resurrected cats!**

* * *

I squealed as the darkness of the cave engulfed me. Water sloshed around rocks I could just barely make out in the darkness.

"Am I alive?" someone squealed.

"You are if everyone can hear you," I said. A cat's pelt brushed against mine. I didn't recognize the scent, but it was warming.

My eyes blinked open. I hadn't known that I had fallen asleep. The air was still and cold beside me. It must've been my dream.

Water rushed all around the platform. I saw three tiny shapes lying on the platform. A big rock parted two streams. The platform was headed for the rock.

I screamed, knowing we would crash. A kit shadow sat up immediately, and tried to steer the platform. We just made it.

The other two kits sat up immediately, and started breathing again, relieved that we had made it. Starlight beamed in from a gap over my head. A way out!

"Guys! Where's that branch?" I hissed. Now that I could see clearly, it was Shadekit who had the branch. He pushed it across the platform to me.

I scratched as much as I could at the end of the platform until it made a good enough hook to hold on to the rock above. I threw it up the short distance and started to climb.

"Guys!" I said, overjoyed. Brackenkit blinked, then started climbing after me. Shadekit followed him, and Sunkit grabbed onto the end. The raft floated away below us.

"I'm slipping!" Sunkit screeched from the bottom of the branch. Shadekit grabbed her with his teeth, and the stick cracked, plunging Shadekit and Sunkit into the swirling black river.

"Featherkit, keep holding!" Brackenkit told me, then dove into the water. I was terrified. The stick was slowly sliding off the rock. Just then, Brackenkit emerged with a plank of wood, Shadekit coughing up water on top of it.

Then I heard a scream, and I didn't know whose. All I know is that I was plunging into the river. I landed on the plank with a crash. Shadekit sat up.

"Sunkit!" I screeched, and a white form bobbed to the surface of the water. Brackenkit's eyes misted, but he just pushed the body towards the makeshift raft. As that happened, a wave came, and I was plunged yet again into the water.

* * *

**(No, the chapter is not over!) **

* * *

Mystery POV 

"The kits are late," a golden tom told me.

"Yes, well they could all be dead," I told him. "It's happened before."

"But their bodies haven't turned up," the tom said.

"They could've died at the beginning, or gone through the wrong tunnel," I meowed.

"I'll send a patrol to come find the bodies," the tom said.

"Please do so," I said. I looked up at the sky. The moon was a half circle. The next kits were due in a few sunrises.

_Please tell me the kits are safe, StarClan! _

* * *

**That chapter was pretty tragic. But I kinda liked it. See ya when! **

**~Harmonic**


	3. River

**Hi. Next chappie! Sorry if the last one was **_**really**_** short, it's because I typed it on my phone. O-O yeah. I need a few OCs! If you have any, please review/PM them. For the...ah, whatever, you'll learn in the next chapter. And the cats need to have warrior names!**

* * *

The water was black and foamy. Bits of wood and pebbles washed into my mouth, making me swallow even more water. I forced my paws to move, to move me upwards. My vision was clouding, and my lungs screamed for air. Almost…there…

My head broke the surface of the water. I was alive! I saw Shadekit's head break the surface, followed by Brackenkit's. Then I saw the rock.

It was covered in blood. Fresh blood, and a white mess of fur was tangled onto a ledge. There was blood coming out of a huge wound. The furry mess did not move. **(Sorry if I gave you a terrible vision there.)**

Brackenkit let out a wavering cry, and Shadekit gasped. They had evidently just noticed the body.

"Skystar will be furious if we don't find the kits," a rough voice said, echoing off of the cave walls.

"But I hate to see the tiny, messed up bodies!" another voice wailed.

"A way out of this place!" Shadekit whispered, and used all his might to swim forward.

I looked at Brackenkit and he nodded. I swam behind Shadekit, Brackenkit following me. I turned around, and I nearly screamed.

Brackenkit was holding Sunkit's body in his jaws. **(I had to delete a word there to keep you from seeing another bad vision :I)**

There was blood staining his pelt, and the water was turning a deep shade of scarlet around him.

"Her body shouldn't stay here," he whispered. I just nodded, speechless, and forced myself to turn around again.

* * *

"Go deeper in the tunnel," a voice alarmingly near said.

Then, I heard water swish and my only motivation to keep moving was the bloodstained water behind me.

"Come o-" Shadekit began, then gaped in horror. He must've saw Sunkit.

"I hear voices!" a soft voice said.

"We're here!" I cried. I was too desperate to be saved, and I didn't think about whom it might be.

Then a silver cat came swimming around the corner. "I found them!" she called.

A ginger tom and a white she-cat splashed behind her.

"Are you all okay?" the ginger tom said.

Shadekit and I shook our heads and parted to let Brackenkit through.

"Oh my StarClan!" the white she-cat said, leaning to take the body away from Brackenkit.

"StarClan?" I asked. "Are you rogues? Cast out?"

The gray she-cat purred. "You'll see," she said.

"Who thinks that they can swim just a bit further?" the white she-cat said.

Shadekit nodded, and with that, the tom and the white she-cat picked Brackenkit and I up and carried us away.

* * *

**Chapter over. I just really wanted to update this .-. Anyways, thanks for the reviews! Hazelfrost, I will add your OCs to the mysterious group of cats...Till next time,**

**~Harmonic**


	4. Dream

**Back. So glad you guys liked it ^u^ I WILL put your OC's in, once I get them out of this cave. Which will be…next chapter! Yay! Still accepting OCs, but be sure to put their personality/relationships on them as well. Thanks x)**

* * *

"Hey, looks like you were wrong, Flamefur," the gray she-cat meowed around Sunkit's body.

"One of them was dead, Dovefeather," Flamefur said.

"But not all of them," the white she-cat said. "Dovefeather's right. You were wrong for once."

"Icestorm, I'm never wrong," Flamefur said, growling in my ear. I was sick and tired of hearing the cats arguing. They seemed to forget we were there.

"Look, the light is getting closer!" Shadekit squealed, the water splashing around him as he ran between the cats.

"You're right, Shadekit," Dovefeather purred.

"Let me down!" I squealed, and wriggled in Flamefur's grasp. He let me down into the water, and I bounded after Shadekit, getting closer to the tunnel of light.

* * *

**Sunkit POV**

I opened my eyes into stars.

"Welcome to StarClan, young one," a fading bluish gray she-cat said.

"What do you mean? Am I—" I stopped there. I knew the answer to that question.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," she said.

"Can I speak to my mother?" I said in a hushed voice.

The cat nodded, and led me to a sparkling pool.

"Touch your nose to the pool," she instructed, and I did so. "Then, envision who you want to speak to." I did that also.

And then I was in a sunny land of sweet smelling flowers. I caught sight of my mother, who was smiling at me.

"This is a wonderful dream," she said, her voice blurred.

"Icepelt!" I purred, and ran up to her.

"Sunkit!" she said, then stopped short. "You have stars in your fur," she whispered. "Where are the others?"

That made tears well in my eyes. "T—they made it," I whispered.

"Sunkit, I love you," Icepelt murmured. "What happened to the others? I can tell their mothers that they are alive."

"I don't know," I mewed. "The last thing I remember was pain, and the bitter tang of blood."

Icepelt nodded. "Walk in their dreams," she said. "The night isn't over yet."

* * *

The first dream I walked into was Featherkit's. There was water everywhere, and it was rising to the roof of wherever we were.

Featherkit was bobbing at the top, coughing up water, flailing her paws. I swam up, knowing that the water wouldn't hurt me.

"Sunkit!" she said, coughing up water as she spoke.

"You'll be ok, Featherkit," I said. "You have your whole life to look forward to." With that, I dove back under the water.

* * *

Thorns dug into my pads as I walked through Shadekit's nightmare. There he was, in a clearing, his paws sinking into the mulch beneath him.

"Sunkit!" he said. "Help me!"

I shook my head. "You'll wake up soon," I said, and he looked relieved.

Now that I knew that both Featherkit and Shadekit were alive, I had to find out if Brackenkit was still alive.

* * *

Brackenkit's dream was very colorful and sunny compared to the others'.

Then I saw him, in a meadow. There were other cats there too, but they didn't seem to take notice of him.

"Owlflight! Pinefoot! Brambleheart!" he said.

The cats ignored him, and a tom who looked like a bigger version of Brackenkit was chasing a butterfly.

"Owlflight! Pinefoot!" he screeched, and muffled sobs came afterwards.

"Brackenkit, did your parents ever love you?" I said, unable to take the pain of isolation anymore.

He shook his head. "Never," he said, then looked up. "Sunkit," he breathed.

"Featherkit and Shadekit will always be with you," I said. "And so will I."

He gave me a faint smile, and then I went back to StarClan, where I belonged.

* * *

**How'd you like that? It was mainly Sunkit this chapter, but it will be back to Featherkit next chapter, where they go to the camp of this weird Clan. Yeah, see you later.**

**NO MORE OCS! Sorry, but I have enough =/ I might need some in a future story but that's just a maybe. :) **

**Anything not submitted in this template will not be in the story, because they're your OCs and I don't want to have to make things up for them.**

** ~Harmonic**


	5. Lights

The River's End

Chapter Five

Featherkit's POV

Dazzling sunlight blinded me as I exited the cave. I had never been so happy to go outside.

"Here we are," Dovefeather purred. "This is the camp."

"The camp of what?" Shadekit mewed curiously.

"You've noticed how we all have warrior names," Icestorm said. "Right?"

We all nodded.

"This is SpiritClan," Flamefur said.

"SpiritClan? What kind of name is that?" Brackenkit mewed.

"You'll see in a few moons," Dovefeather said.

"Why? What's going to happen? Why can't you tell us now?" I asked.

"You're a curious bunch, aren't you?"

I turned. There was a black and white cat behind me.

"They are," Flamefur said. "Too curious for me."

"My name is Skystar," the cat continued. Her light blue eyes were filled with amusement.

"Are the kits here yet?" a brown tabby came running over.

"You think?" Dovefeather dropped Sunkit from her jaws.

"Oh, StarClan!" Skystar murmured. "It was the rock, wasn't it?"

"So you know about the rock?" I said.

"One too many kits have died that way," Flamefur said. "Like my sister."

"StarClan doesn't approve of the givings!" the brown tabby said. "I should know! Their medicine cats should know!"

"We know, Copperfur," Skystar said. "You're not the only medicine cat here."

While the older cats bickered, I beckoned to Shadekit and Brackenkit.

"Where do you think they came from?" Shadekit asked.

"They said that they came from the tunnel," Brackenkit responded.

"Yeah, but—"

"I think that you should go sleep somewhere," a gray cat told us. "The sun should be setting soon."

I turned and looked at the sun. He was right. The navy blue was settling in around the orange glow.

The air got colder and the stars glowed icily, hanging there in the sky.

"How long were we in the tunnels?" I asked the tom.

"It's not a full moon yet, so probably a couple of sunrises," he responded. "There are a few spare nests in that bush over there. I'm sure the apprentices won't mind."

I nodded, and padded into the bush. It was empty but warm with life, and I lay down and closed my eyes into sleep.

* * *

Mystery POV

The cold air drifted into the den, chilling me to the bone. Moonlight shone through the leaves of the holly bush, along with an eerie light.

There was no one to warm me inside the den, because they were all out in the clearing.

I opened my eyes to the shining light. It was time at last.

I made my way outside of the den, careful not to look at the sky. Everyone, even the elders and queens, was sitting in a ring around the middle of camp.

A dark ginger tom moved over so that I could take my place beside him.

"We are here because of this occasion. They are all scared of this, but not us. This is why we are here, and this is why we are doing this," a black cat said from a ledge above the circle.

"Flamepaw and Skypaw," the cat said. "They are the two kits left that were sacrificed in early Leaf-fall."

The ginger tom and I stood up, still looking down at the ground.

"Flamepaw, Skypaw, you may look at the sky."

I tilted my head upwards and looked at the beautiful lights shining above my head. To think that they all thought that these were bad omens.

"The sacrifices go back to the time of the ancient Bramblestar," the black cat continued. "The first four who came were extremely lucky that they all survived. They recruited some rogues, loners, and even kittypets, and made the place where we are today."

"SpiritClan."

"I call upon the spirits of Lilystar, Sparkfur, Rippleheart, and Kestrelwing," a tortoiseshell cat called from under the ledge.

The cold wind rushed around my paws, and the sound of tinkling, joyful laughter filled my ears.

Everyone in the clearing closed their eyes. The lights from above still shone above me, their cold light giving me power and courage.

"Flamepaw, Skypaw, your Clans abandoned you. Turn back or be admitted by SpiritClan," the black cat said.

"I'm never going back," I said defiantly.

"I'll stay, because I have a chance here," Flamepaw said.

"I, Ravenstar, call upon the spirit of Lilystar to approve my choice," the black cat said.

There was silence, and I closed my eyes. I had been through so much that this seemed like nothing to me.

"Skypaw, Flamepaw, welcome to SpiritClan," the tortoiseshell said, and everyone at last looked up at the sky.

The stars spread out against the midnight sky and floated amongst the shining lights from above.

Sleep tugged at me, but I stayed awake. I had made it.

_I can rise in this Clan,_ I thought. _In ThunderClan, they never cared about me. All they cared about was sacrificing the kits._

I smiled, satisfied with my thoughts. _I'll rise like dawn and one day, I will become Skystar, leader of SpiritClan._

* * *

**Personally, I like the Mystery POV best. It says who it is in there, but if you couldn't guess, look at the last sentence of the chapter. See the last chapter for the OC template thing so I can put your character in. Reviewers get Featherkit plushies! See you later! I AM CONTINUING THIS I'M JUST BUSY =P**

**~Harmonic**


	6. Warmth

**Okeyzies, so I'z back. The only reason why I'm updating this is because LakeStream, a reader of this story, told me to. So here you go! Will try to make it longer as I haven't given you anythingfor a long time. 45 words already! Okay, okay, I'll start. Oh yeah, no more OC'S for now. Sorry! Holding back on some of them again, sorry… People who submitted them first get them in first. And-**

**Featherkit: *****chucks rock at Harmonic's head***** JUST START ALREADY!**

**Okay, okay, okay! #longestanever**

* * *

I was woken up by the dawn sunshine streaming over the trees, making everything alight with a golden glow.

Bramblekit was jumping around, trying to catch a beam of light on the side of a tree.

_Stupid furball,_I thought, smirking. _He'll never catch it._

Shadekit was sitting, well, in the shade, talking to a warrior I hadn't seen before.

"When will we become apprentices?" Shadekit was whining.

"When the lights come," the warrior answered. With that Shadekit noticed me, and beckoned me to come over.

"Who's that?" I muttered to Shadekit.

"Seeing as this is our new Clan, and as our old ones cast us out…" Shadekit started.

"I'm Rabbitdash," the warrior said. "Your friend here really does talk a lot."

"No one can be more loud and annoying than Bramblekit," I muttered under my breath.

"Featherkit, did you hear that?" Shadekit was bouncing around like Bramblekit. "The lights are coming tonight! We're gonna be apprentices tonight!"

Bramblekit stopped his stupid light-chasing game and looked up. "Tonight?"

Rabbitdash nodded. "It's been quite a few moons since you were sacrificed," she said.

_Sacrificed_. I hate that word. Sacrificed. It reminds me of my old stupid RiverClan home, my old stupid RiverClan parents, and my old stupid RiverClan EVERYTHING!

Greif wells at my eyes, fighting to push out. I run away, not hearing whatever stupid old ThunderClan Bramblekit wanted to say.

_His mother hated him_, a tiny voice said in my head. _She __asked__ for him to be sacrificed_. Shaking that voice out of my head, I kept running to wherever my paws would take me.

"Watch where you're going."

The voice startled me and I fell back into a bramble bush. A pair of twinkling green eyes were staring at me.

Slowly, carefully, gingerly getting up, I see what the eyes belong to.

"I'm Foxpaw," he said. "When did you get here?"

"I'm going to be an apprentice tonight," I say, raising my tail in pride.

I look off at the sun, which is still high in the sky. I didn't want to wait!

"Foxpaw!" a voice called from not far away.

As I turn back towards camp, I know I'll see him and the voice before the sun set.

"Faithpaw is calling me," he said, and I start to walk back.

"I never caught your name," he said.

I turn back around and stare into those green eyes again. "Featherkit," I say. "My name is Featherkit."

* * *

The sun is finally setting, making the river illuminate golden, orange and red.

As the sky becomes darker, I bound off to meet Shadekit and Brackenkit. Shadekit is tracing circles in the ground with his claw, and Brackenkit is pacing in a circle around Shadekit. I settle down next to Shadekit and try not to fall asleep as the sky darkens even more.

I blink my eyes open as they start to shut. I see Shadekit and Brackenkit have moved next to Skystar.

"Do exactly as I tell you to do during the ceremony," she was saying. "It's different from the Clans."

Brackenkit and Shadekit walk away to the other side of the clearing.

"Featherkit. Good. You heard what I said, right?" she said.

I nod and start to get up, but she stops me.

"There's light in you," she whispers, and then lets me go.

The stars are in the sky by this point, and a glowing mist is starting to rise.

"Look down," someone beside me hisses, and pushes my head down.

Skystar climbs a rock jutting out of the ground on the opposite side of the clearing.

"We are here because of this occasion. They are all scared of this, but not us. This is why we are here, and this is why we are doing this," Skystar says, looking up at the sky. I assume that I shouldn't look up by the fact that no one else is.

"Brackenkit, Shadekit, and Featherkit," Skystar continued. "These are the three kits left that were sacrificed in leaf-fall."

Shadekit rose beside me, his head still looking down. I copied him, my neck aching from holding this posture.

"Brackenkit, Shadekit, and Featherkit, you may look up at the sky."

I lift my head and look at the beautiful greens and blues that lace the dark night sky.

"The sky is awake," I whisper.

Shadekit nudges me and I take it that we weren't supposed to talk.

Skystar continues with the ceremony, but I'm still taken aback by the sky. The cold, leaf-bare wind blows against my fur, but I don't mind.

"Featherkit, RiverClan abandoned you. Turn back or be admitted by SpiritClan," Skystar said. I nearly jumped.

I look down a bit and look her in the eyes. "Why would I go back?" I say.

"I, Skystar, call upon the spirit of Lilystar to approve my choice."

Everything is silent for the shortest time.

"Brackenpaw, Shadepaw, Featherpaw, welcome to SpiritClan."

The circle we were in breaks up and the clearing is filled with chatter again.

"Welcome."

I jump and turn around. It's a golden warrior, and he certainly looked like he wanted to take everything he said back.

"Brambleshadow, talk to someone when you actually can!" A black tom shoos him away.

Rabbitdash hurries over and tries to pull the black tom off of Brambleshadow.

"Scarpath-"

"But-"

"Get off!"

"Welcome."

This time I don't jump because I know who it is.

"Hi, Foxpaw," I say without turning around.

A silvery apprentice jumps in front of me. "You didn't even turn around," she complained, a twinkle in her aqua eyes.

I jump back, right into Foxpaw and whom I guessed must be Faithpaw.

"Silverpaw!" Faithpaw complains, pushing me off her. "Sorry," Silverpaw says with a mischievous grin.

They start to quarrel and I slowly back off, until I'm alone in the middle of the clearing looking up at the sky.

Warmth brushes my side. "Aren't you cold?"

"No," I say, and pull away swiftly.

"Are you sure?" I look to my side right into the pleading amber eyes of Brackenpaw.

"You couldn't plan to be more annoying," I say and gaze up at the sky again.

I can still feel his eyes on my pelt, probably waiting until he can get to annoy me again.

_Stupid furball._

* * *

**A long one, like I promised :) Got some OCs in, will get the rest in sometime soon. When I get to it, I'll ask for more again.**

**TILDE KEY, Harmonic :D**


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